AIDF Global Disaster Relief Summit 2015 Ended with Great Success

29 Sep 2015 • by Natalie Aster

LONDON – Organised by Aid and International Development Forum (AIDF), the AIDF Global Disaster Relief Summit 2015 was held on September 11-12, 2015, at the Ronal Reagan Building and International Trade Center, in Washington D.C., the USA. This exclusive two-day Event gathered more than 350 participants including NGOs, the UN agencies, donors, governmental bodies, military personnel, academicians, representatives of the private sector, among others.

AIDF Global Disaster Relief Summit 2015 provided all the experts and participants with an unrivalled opportunity to discuss relevant topics and share experience in such spheres as security and logistics, health and WASH, ICT and data, and field operations for disaster response and management.

Dmitri Dovgopoly, the director of the UN Procurement division, inaugurated the Event with an openings speech. The two days of AIDF Global Disaster Relief Summit 2015 consisted of various expert panels.

The very first expert panel aimed at Common Compliance Pitfalls During Disaster Response. After the first panel, the Event divided into two streams that were parallel in separate rooms. The one stream focused on the security and logistics, while the other – on Health and WASH. The 1st panel in the security and logistics, concentrated on Security and Stability in the Middle East & Africa. Meanwhile, the 2nd one, Best Practice for Getting Supplies Into Areas of Reduced Infrastructure, highlighted the topic of logistics.

The Health and WASH stream started with the panel on Reducing Health Consequences During Emergency Situations. The second panel, dubbed Best Practice and Innovations for Emergency WASH, discussed the specific challenges of emergency water security and sanitation. This second panel was followed by a networking lunch, and then the Health and WASH stream focused on Lessons Learned from the Ebola Outbreak.

Meanwhile, the security and logistics stream concentrated on Operational Efficiency & Supply Chain Management. After this panel, the audience had a chance to be engaged into informal roundtable discussions to share, experience, ask questions on all relevant topics. The first event day ended with the panel, which was aimed at discussing Strategic Partnerships & CSR Models.

The second day of AIDF Global Disaster Relief Summit 2015 started with the commemoration of the anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

The first panel of the second summit day was Innovations in Emergency Coordination & Social Networks. Later, the summit was again split in two parallel streams. The first stream was devoted to ICT & Data, the other concentrated at Field Operations. The first panel within the framework of ICT & Data was Better Communication with Communities. Electronic Payment Models for Aid Operations was another panel limelighted the necessity of digital payments during and after an emergency.

At the same time, in the other room the participants of the Field Operations stream delved into Safety of Crisis-Affected Population. The second panel focused on Shelter Assistanceand Post-Disaster Settlement Planning.

The panel discussion on Data Collection, Analysis and Management, after the interactive roundtable discussions were accompanied with a bunch of questions from the audience.

And the last but not the least panel of the Event was Taking an Human-Centered Approach to Relief and Recovery Programs.

AIDF Global Disaster Relief Summit 2015 was crowned up with a passionate keynote speech about the necessity to improve disaster relief and management globally and the importance of partnerships and collaborations!

More photos from the AIDF Global Disaster Relief Summit 2015 are available here.